Spring-leaf spreader



H. H. STRUVE.

SPRING LEAF SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1916.

1,338, 1 11. Patented Apr. 27, 1920.,

' avwzmtoz H. ma 2 HAMILTON HALI'. s'rn'ovn, or CINCINNATI, OHIO.

SPRING-LEAF SPREADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 27, 1920.

Application filed November 9, 1916. Serial No.-130,826.

To all whom it may-concern:

Be it known that I, HAMILTON HALL STRUVE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Leaf Spreaders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to spreading devices for separating the leaves of a spring, particularly an automobile spring, so that grease may be inserted between theleaves. In devices of the character in the past, the difliculty has been that there was not enough strength to withstand the excessive strain resulting from prying apart the tightly bound leaves of a spring.

In the past it has been considered necessary to have two wedge members for the spreader, one entering between the leaves at one side and one at the other. In such devices, the adjustment of the spreader to the spring depends upon the proper placing of two opposed wedge members. The grasp of the device upon the spring depends upon two pointed members, with no surface which can lie along'the spring. There are two sharpened points which will be subject to the excessive strains mentioned, and twice the expense of manufacture, and twice the liability of burring or breaking. In other devices, means are provided to engage each leaf separately, which is even more diflicult of adjustment than the double wedge device.

I have found that it is much more efiective to provide two members for the spreader which will lie along the side of the spring and grasp it, and but one prying member, which will lie behind the grasping surface at its side of the spreader, until it is operated. Thus I am enabled to have in opposition to the prying blade, a full bearing of a solid plate against the full spring, and there will be no danger when exerting strength in spreading the springs, to pull the spreader away with the hand, and suffer injury through striking the same against the person or bruising the hand and arm on other parts of the spring or mechanism to which it is attached.

Furthermore I I have found that for quickly and easily spreading the various other leaf from the ot leaves ofa spring, it is desirable to have smooth surfaces for grasping the spring on both sides, so that the device may be moved up or down along the spring, without making a new adjustment of parts. Here again I find it .of advantage to have but one spreading blade, as there is no necessity .of adjusting two blades in place, being careful that one blade or wedge is not adjacent an- It is thus theobject of my invention to provide for the useful advantages above noted, and these obj ects I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more specifically pointed out and claimed.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the spreader.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2, 2, l I

of F 1g. 1, showing the parts other. than the handle in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the spreader, showing the "blade in operating position with the spring leavesspread apart.

Fig. 4 is an end' elevation of the spreader. A heavy L-shaped bar of iron is provided, having arms 1 and 2. The arm 2 is screwthreaded and carries on it an interiorly sc'rewthreadeol collar," having the grasping finger i3 thereon. There is a'lock nut 4 on the arm 2, which serves to position the finger with reference to the member 1 of the bar. The inner face 5 of the finger is smooth and is intended to grasp or lie along the side of a spring, shown at 6 in Figs. 2 and 3.

Themember 1 of the bar is shown as rounded, and this is the preferred form because of-economy, allthat is necessary being that it is comparatively smooth, so as to be capable of sliding along the sides of a spring.

Set eccentrically on the upper end of the member 1 is a 'post 7. On this post is pivoted the handle 8,-which has a cam edged blade 9 formed thereon to lie on the inside of the pivot "post, a cotter pin serving to hold it in place. It is preferred to have this formed with a long taper to the thickthe sharp edge at 11, so that after the initial spreading of the leaves the balance of the cam blade will slip easily in between the spring leaves gradually spreading them apart.

The reason for this is that the blade must be very strong to avoid burring when being forced between the tightly rusted leaves of a spring. If the blade has a sharp taper, it cannot be made strong enough to enter between the leaves of the spring without making it so brittle that it will break almost. immediately. If it does not taper gradually, but is made very thin for any distance behind the edge, the edge will not stand up at all. The tempering of the blades is the most difficult part of the operation in making up my Spreaders, and it is only by long experimentation that I have found that particular form of blade which will be easiest to manufacture with the proper characteristics.

It is not insisted upon that the blade should be as above described, but it is felt that it is preferably to be of the nature noted.

In operation, the finger is adjusted along the screw-threaded portion of the bar, and locked in the proper position to slidably grasp the one side of the desired spring in opposition to the member 1 of the bar. The blade is swung back on its eccentric pivot post so that it will lie outside of the surface of the member 1. The device is then slipped under a spring, and the handle pulled over. This will swing the blade, be ginning at the narrowest portion thereof and thence to the widest portion and longer tapered portion, into the space between the selected spring leaves, resulting in the separation of them. While the leaves are spread, grease can be put between them on a knife, thereby lubricating the spring.

For spreading the next leaf, the handle is swung back and the device slipped up, or tapped upwardly with a hammer or the like, until the blade comes opposite another joint between leaves, when the same operation can be repeated.

It is believed that the various points of my invention have now been fully developed, and its advantages noted. It is not desired that the claims that follow be limited because of the failure to mention in the above matter, such equivalent structures as would be effective in the device without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A spring leaf spreader comprising an L-shaped bar having one end threaded, and the other end of a substantial length so as to act as one of two clamping members to engage the sides of a spring, another clamping member of greater length than the said clamping end, threaded to engage adjustably the threaded end of the L-shaped bar, and a wedge element pivoted on the clamping end of the bar and adapted to move into position entirely out of contact with the side of a spring, engaged between said clamping members and into a position to enter between the leaves of such a spring.

2. A spring leaf spreader comprising an L-shaped bar having one end threaded, and the other end of a substantial length so as to act as one of two clamping members to engage the sides of a spring, another clamping member of greater length than the said clamping end, threaded to engage adjustably the threaded end of the L-shaped bar, and a wedge element pivoted on the clamping end of the bar and adapted to move into position entirely out of contact with the side of a spring, engaged between said clamping members and into a position to enter between the leaves of such a spring, said wedge element comprising a knife eccentrically pivoted to said clamping end, and having a curved, beveled and tapering blade, as and for the purpose described.

H. HALL STRUVE. 

